If I'm just bad news, then you're a liar.

-TAKING BACK SUNDAY

Troy's Mind

I was nervous.

Alright, that was an understatement - practically freaking out. I knew that this was our big chance, that this was our golden moment. We never made it this far before. We were so close to kissing that trophy . . . so close to having the victory in our bare hands - it was like dangling right in front of us. It wasn't an option to lose - it's only been the thing we've been anticipating for the passed few weeks.

Even the locker room smelled worse. Was that possible? I seriously almost fainted from how horrible it smelled. All the guys were throwing on their basketball jerseys. I headed over to my locker, center of the entire room. I guess it was like everybody could watch me change if they really wanted to - but honestly, I don't even wanna think about it.

Being the team's best player, I was forced to be the channel of interest. I knew my dad would be throwing me expressions, begging me to do my best, to win the game, to be his son and do everything perfect, like I'm supposed to.

I threw on my sleeveless red jersey, on the back; 'BOLTON 14' was in huge letters. Not really sure why I'd have to describe a basketball jersey to anyone, its appearance is kind of obvious.

A few guys patted me on the back, encouragingly, saying things like, "Man, we're gonna whoop them," or, "Dude, we're killing those Cougars tonight . . ."

Chad's locker was right by me. He came in late, and all the tension in the locker room just built up. He was angry. Actually, he was beyond that - his face was a furious red and his fists were clenched into balls of steel.

Chad . . . he was never mad, ever. I didn't think it was possible for him to get mad. He was always the forgiving, peaceful guy, never made a big scene about everything.

Then he entered the locker room like he was ready to murder anyone in his path. Even the rest of the guys looked over with curiosity. He completely ignored everyone though and just headed to the locker. I swore I heard him pound his fist against it before scrolling the code.

Yeah, Danforth was pissed. I wouldn't usually say that, either.

I was best friends with this guy - like a brother to him, since I was like four. And I'm telling you, within those amounts of years, I had never seen Chad boil so much as he did right then and there. I seen him breakdown and cry a few times over Taylor, but I've never seen him look like he wanted to kill someone.

After he threw on his jersey, he took a seat on the bench, tangling his hands through his hair like a guy who had just lost one million dollars. Everybody else seemed almost afraid of him. I mean, Chad wasn't aggressive, but right now, it was as if he would hit the next person who spoke to him.

I was always the best with picking the right moments though.

"Man, where are your lucky socks?" I joked, dropping my eyes to his high tops.

I'm not gonna go into detail about this but we all had a pair of socks that seemed to extend our luck. It's kind of lame, but it was a small team, and we were all good friends. I considered it more a joke than anything . . . even though I wore those socks anyways.

I probably should've stopped there - guys don't like to discuss things, you know that, I know that better than anyone. Chad and I were like brothers though; he's always had my back. Usually he just told me what was up - Taylor, school, basketball . . . this time, he just glared at me.

"Man, screw your lucky socks, I could really care less Bolton." Harsh, that's all I gotta say.

"Dude, what's up with you? We have like fifteen minutes until our game. This is it, Chad, seriously, this is our last chance." I took a seat next to him on the bench.

"I don't care, Troy." Chad grumbled, viciously averting his eyes from me. "I can't believe . . ." He paused, and I knew he wasn't going to continue.

"What?"

"You know, man, you know well. I thought we were like brothers, man. I gave you my fucking basketball when you lost yours, man." He finally spoke up, his fists trembling in violence - his eyes just burning rage into the floor

Oh . . . crap.

"You didn't like her, so you said, and then you go and try and make out with her? Man, that's so messed up, even Zeke was shocked."

It was almost inevitable - this conversation. I had no idea how he found out, but I knew exactly who he was referring to. "Gabriella."

My hands raced through my hair aimlessly, "It's not like that man. Who even told you that? She totally came onto me - I didn't do anything."

"Exactly, you didn't do anything - you just went with it. You know as well as I do that she's just using you too. She used me, now she's gonna mess with you man, and I hope she fucks you over bad man, just like you fucked me over." He stormed off the bench, the entire room filling with an abnormal thickness.

A storm surged through my veins as I stood up, "Why does it even matter so much? I don't like her man - yeah, she's attractive, whatever. I can't help it that she likes me better than you, alright? You don't even know a thing about her." I yelled back to him - the entire locker room now watching us, as if we were that entertaining. Yeah, alright, I knew he was mad, but seriously, I knew Gabriella's intentions very well. I can't help that my feet don't move sometimes.

And when I say sometimes, I kind of mean, a lot. Gravity just never let me pull away.

Plus, Chad didn't even know Gabriella. I didn't really either - but it was like; he didn't even know why she was so . . . the way she was, or what happened before she met us. He didn't know what I did - he didn't see the way she actually lit up with emotions for a second or two.

Stiffly, he turned to face me from the door of the locker room. I could tell that this was gonna be bad. I could tell this was going to get ugly. It wasn't because everyone was watching us, or because we were fighting over Gabriella (not the case), it was because it was us, in fact. Us, as in Chad and Troy, 'brothers', 'best friends', whatever . . . the stupid things we made pacts on when we were kids. I knew I messed up, yeah; it didn't shock me that it got around. But I really don't think I could've prevented it. She was drawing her nails up and down my shirt and grinning like the devil in disguise. Yeah, it was the darkest sin of all, but at that second in time, it was like an addictive want that I couldn't push aside.

Down there, things couldn't have been more uncomfortable. I wanted to adjust myself but I couldn't even do that. I was just frozen in a spot, anxiety and desire just taking me over in some kind of staggering state. The entire night was like that. I wasn't the type of guy to get easily turned on by a girl. Come to think of it though, no girl had the gall to do what Gabriella did. The fact that she moved away . . . God, it just made me even more eager. I couldn't read her though - I couldn't tell whether she was just kidding, that she was using me, or that maybe, I just didn't care whether she was or not. I felt kind of desperate at this point. That wasn't supposed to happen.

The fact that I was thinking about all of this while standing there, eye-to-eye with Chad, really didn't help matters. Of course, just the annoying thought of Gabriella brought some kind of arousal to me. I tried to clear my thoughts . . . but it seemed only obvious that I did want Gabriella. And I wasn't helping my case by getting all arrogant about it either. I didn't know who she liked best. I didn't even know if she liked anyone. This felt like just a game of temptation. I was just one of the few idiots that were falling for it.

"Man, she's just a girl . . . I swear, Chad, you're like a brother to me." Yeah, it was pretty pathetic that I was sucking up to him after sounding like a complete imbecile. I mean, I already made this bad - I told him that she liked me more; he was already resenting me. I was just making it worse.

"Brother?" Chad just snorted, not even worrying about the many eyes around us. Then, he advanced towards me, and I could see his muscles taut together like nuts. Now, he was losing his mind. It made me realize that maybe he actually liked her more than I thought. But he could have had anyone - he knew that. But so could I. And so could Ryan Evans.

Yet we're all playing in a ring of fire.

God, this sucked.

If looks could kill, Chad would have pretty much destroyed me there. I could tell he wanted me to just disappear. Come to think of it, I can remember a time when he got pretty mad . . . similar to this situation.

There was a time when he became almost bloodthirsty for some guy on the football team. The guy was a prick - he kept hitting on Taylor, and Chad was getting sick of it. This was when Taylor and Chad were pretty strong and Chad didn't want anyone coming in between them. Compared to us basketball players, the football players were huge. But all football players are pretty big, that's just a given. They only work out twenty-four hours a day. Anyways, Chad had nothing on these guys. He knew that the guy could probably smash him if he wanted to. He was like a kid to them - he couldn't block the punches if he wanted to. Plus, he had a reputation to protect - he couldn't just start getting his butt kicked by a bunch of football players.

We went to this party and everything was great between Taylor and him. I came with them with Zeke and a few other people I knew showed up, but I was never a big one on parties. I never enjoyed watching people down booze and dance around like idiots. I didn't get the objective there. They said it felt good . . . couldn't say I've experienced much of that. I've never had time to get smashed at a party and thrust myself into random girls'. So, yeah, it's pretty primitive, I guess. You'd expect something cliché - Troy Bolton, girls like him, so he takes advantage of it, he's a man whore. Why is the 'cool' guy always the player, the man whore, the guy who makes so many mistakes that it's almost embarrassing? I was one hundred and twenty percent positive that East High was a bit offbeat pinning me as the 'most wanted' - I've never even taken a drop of alcohol . . . even when I was a kid! Yeah, I know what you're thinking - that kid really has no life. When I was young, it was all about grades and basketball . . . I didn't care about girls or my friends were doing. Yeah, I was popular, but I wasn't about to drink to fit in. Again, I'll thank my dad for making me rather level-headed . . . desperate for sex, but completely level-headed . . . I'm totally rambling again, right?

It's gotta be whatever Gabriella put in that water. I had this feeling that it was still with me, or something. I promised myself I wouldn't get too worried about it - at least, unless my penis grows or something . . . then, well, yeah.

Story . . . story . . . right, so, of course, that guy that Chad wanted to beat up, he was really grinding on Taylor - who was too drunk to speak correctly. Chad was drunk too, (not half as drunk as Taylor, but drunk), he hardly even noticed it. He was actually up against some girl all night, too. They've never been really the best for each other, just a little 'thing' for a few weeks, then 'just friends' again. But I was sure that beyond that, there was some chemistry. I mean, Chad seen this, and he just lost all of his mind-power. I was hanging out with a bunch of seniors, who were semi-sober . . . and we were talking about basketball, when I seen him start a scene with this huge, 6"1', monster . . . his chances were dead. He was shouting at him - slurring through his words, and when I seen him give the guy a nice, half-ass shove, I knew that I needed to be the peacemaker and get him away from the guy.

I had to practically race over there; Chad had lunged to the guy, shaking him wildly like I've never seen before. I'm not sure if it was jealousy, hatred, or just a bad reaction from the alcohol. The guy didn't cease after this action though - he kicked up his knee, Chad flying back in pain, groaning. I knew Taylor was getting frustrated and worried. But he didn't give up - he got back up, as if that wasn't enough. The guy shoved him into the wall, the stone-wall's pressure overtaking Chad. "Man, stop, you're making a fool of yourself." I told him as he muttered incoherent words. He surrendered after that, not having enough strength to even get up off the floor.

I guess in the group, I was considered the "peacemaker" also. It wasn't like I wouldn't start a fight if someone started one with me, because I can't stand not defending myself. I just never liked my friends fighting, especially over stupid things, such as girls. And here, Chad and I were, about to knock each other's eyes out because of a girl - because of Gabriella Montez. I guess it was kind of ironic.

"Brothers don't do that kind of stuff, man." Chad's eyes kind of proved I betrayed him, but the glint of envy appeared along with it. I figured he was thinking, 'You don't even like Gabriella - you don't even know what liking is.'

"I didn't do anything." I kept my cool, trying not to get upset. I knew if worst came to worst, there'd be a fist fight and my dad would have to come in and pull us apart.

"Well, yeah, because you're so fucking innocent, you do no wrong. When are you gonna wake up, man? Sure, you're the most sought out guy in school, that's the only reason she even tried anything. Don't even try and act clueless now though. Everybody in the school can tell there's something going on, and Gabriella's obviously not afraid to admit it to Sharpay."

Sharpay. I would've slapped myself in the forehead, hadn't the entire basketball team been watching me. God, that was just so Sharpay. But the thought that Gabriella told her, that kind of annoyed me. She knew Sharpay would tell everyone. How couldn't she? Sharpay had the biggest mouth around.

"Troy, you gonna let him just sit there and talk shit?" Someone I couldn't point my eyes on asked, breaking the silence in the locker room.

This whole lost-in-my-thoughts type of thing wasn't working well today.

I cackled, making a face that only mocked Chad, "You wanna fight me man?"

I guess his face wasn't that intimidating - until now. And then with all in a brief second, he charged me into the locker behind me, his fists at the height of my head. Everybody seemed shocked at this, and I felt my breathing increase.

I felt rage and a rush of adrenaline - taking him by the shoulders and attempting to drive him away from me.

"She's gonna hurt you." Chad grumbled, unable to take on my strength. Everybody knew I worked out ten times more than he did and that he stood a little beneath my level. However, right now, he wasn't budging. "I hope she does, because you're a liar, Bolton, you're just a spoiled rich kid; you think you're God because your dad used to be one of the best. I can't believe I thought you were my best friend."

When he said this, I just grunted, slamming him into one of the lockers. The people around us were wide-eyed, astonished, "Man, she's just a girl. Don't get all mad at me just because she doesn't like you."

He shifted up to his legs, trying to grasp me by the neck. He might have, if my dad hadn't walked in just when I glared at him, sincerely, ex-best friends' eye-to-eye. Surely that was going to be in the yearbook.

"What the hell is going on in here?" It wasn't like my dad to cuss unless he was extremely mad, of course. My dad seriously scared the hell out of me when he was angry - the guy was big enough, and he had authority over me. It's either do what you're told or get slapped across the face. He never had - but I'm saying, my dad can't manage his anger, at all. Neither of us even looked at him. "Troy! What the fuck? Danforth? We have a game in five minutes! What is this, bull shit?" Chad released his grip on me roughly.

"You should have seen it - Troy was whooping Chad's ass, weren't ya Troy?" Jimmy 'The Rocket man' was pretty hyped up, pumping his arms up, looking to me with electrified eyes. No offense, but he freaked me out . . . not only did he try to be just like me, but he was everywhere - randomly nearby me in the parking lot, once at some fast food place, and another time . . . he actually came to my house! He said he was just in the neighborhood. And, he's been bugging the living crap out of me about getting my locker after I graduate.

I frowned as my dad took in Jimmy's comment, his eyes scanning from me, a look of confusion and disappointment in his eyes, to Chad, who was just not even looking at him, his eyes grimacing at the floor, as if it was his worst enemy.

"You children better work it out because we have a game to play and I need teamwork, I don't need this childish drama shit, especially not from you, Troy." My dad's eyes fell to me. Yeah, of course, all my fault. Dad, she was hot!

How can any guy seriously think about Chad when they're about to meet lips with someone like Gabriella? You can't think of anything. You're not even thinking. Your bodies just still and the only thing stimulating in it are your hormones - the damn chemical reactions. I think . . . I'm not really sure what was going on down there, though - besides the fact that I had to stop myself from getting too excited about something so casual. Yeah, that'd be kind of embarrassing, say something elevated throughout the time that her body was thickly against my own. I didn't even wanna know what kind of smart comment she'd have for that . . .

All the guys were heading out of the locker room, most of them snickering about the previous situation. I guess it was kind of a big deal since Chad and I never get in fights, nor have we ever just well . . . assaulted each other like that. I'm not even sure why I didn't just walk away before things could get bad. Something went off in me like an alarm and I'm not sure what. When he said 'spoiled rich kid', and 'you think you're God because you're dad used to play,' I just snapped in half. Man, I was so sick of people judging me by my money and my dad.

Chad stormed off in a few minutes, not failing to send me a nice glare before slamming the locker door shut. Feeling stressed, I sighed heavily, raising my eyes to the ceiling, my hands behind my head. There were a few guys that hadn't left to the court yet. My eyes slanted to Zeke, who was a few lockers down from me.

Zeke hadn't even changed yet - how predictable, I guess. He was standing by his locker, on one of the benches, ranting on to three different guys about something, or probably, someone.

"So, and then I was like, girl, that shirt is very becoming on you - although if I were on you, I'd be coming too." I rolled my eyes as he was telling them some corny pick up line he used on some girl. Of course, the guys emitted into fits of laughter, like little girls.

It was kind of disgusting.

"Yo, man, what's up?" I folded my arms and leaned against one of the lockers.

Zeke, still taking pride in his joke, faced me - his face falling immediately. "Oh, shit, wassup man? That was some sick shit - you and Chad." He sounded less enthusiastic than usual.

"Yeah, I swear I didn't even do anything."

"Well, shit, I highly doubt that. That girl is one fine piece of ass - I'll admit it, but as much as I'd like to, I couldn't get that close to her - thought you understood the rule between us bro's, no hoes."

"Zeke," I gritted my teeth together, my aggravation rising, "There's no rules - we're guys, not girls. Man, she doesn't like him, she doesn't like you."

"What the fuck? And you think you're jes so damn special, she must like you?" Zeke erupted into a bunch of hysterical laughs, eying his group of friends who just chuckled. "You're funny, man, you crack me the fuck up."

"I don't think she likes me - it's just, you guys don't even know her."

"I know her pussies' kind of loose." One of the guys added from Zeke's group of friends.

"Yeah, she messes with guys a lot, or something." Another one continued. "She is hot as hell though."

"Chad was really into her - you shouldn't have done that." Zeke's voice was low as he finally began to throw on his jersey.

"Done what? Not moved my feet? She invited me over, she tried to make-out with me, and she kept asking me personal questions . . . it's all perfectly innocent."

"Innocent? Fuck that, man, don't you start lyin' your little pretty ass off now. Gabriella's not even close to innocent; she wants to fuck everything that has a nice vibe to it. You've even said that yourself."

You know what sucks? He was totally right; I did say that. . . not word for word, but yeah.

"Man, you're so simple-minded; you listen to everything people tell you. She hasn't even done anything with anyone here yet." I didn't realize that I was frowning at him, suddenly becoming angry.

"Troy . . . you're scaring the shit out of me," Zeke did looked a bit terrified when he turned back to face me - fully dressed in his jersey, "You fucking hated her a few days ago, now you're like in love with her."

"No." I denied, biting my bottom lip sharply. "It's just, Chad doesn't even know her, he wasn't even trying, so whatever man. And it's not like we were doing anything, so he's just being a girl about this situation."

"Yeah, he kind of is, but man, you guys have been best friends since you were like shitting your diapers. And also, don't tell him I told you this, but Chad knows damn well that even if Gabriella is using you, she'll probably end up feeling emotional shit for you too. And I'm saying that in a none-Clay Aiken way, too."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, whatever man."

"Well, what the hell, Troy? You act like I'm a complete dumb ass. She flirted with you more than any of us. Hell, she actually invited you over to her house and was about to kiss you. Rumor has it she pulled away because you're too good of a guy. But now she wants more. What the fuck does that tell you? A, she's demented, well, hell yeah, man. B, she wants you, to fuck you and to hold you. C, she obviously doesn't give a shit what Chad thinks 'cause she just spread it around that she almost made out with you."

"Man, are you mad?" I asked, suddenly taken back by his comments. Man, stupid, excitement. He threw his bag down, shuffling through it, his back turned to me. I clenched my member over my shorts - I seriously thought I was going to explode. It was between the heat in the locker room, sex, Gabriella . . . how do they even take place in the same sentence? What is wrong with me?

"I don't care, man, I ain't the one you fucked over, but yo, you guys need to work some shit out 'cause we have a game to play, and you two are our best players." Zeke turned to face me, my hand moving away from my crotch. "Man, were you jes. . ."

Oh, great . . . "Man, shut up."

"Wait, I really hope to hell you don't have crabs, man, I'm thinking maybe you're thinking of how sexy Gabriella is, not how sexy I am . . . 'cause you know I ain't into that Clay--"

"Aiken type of stuff, yeah, I know, drop it man." I grabbed the basketball from the floor. "You ready to kill them?" I bit my bottom lip, suddenly psyched.

"Hell yeah, Captain, let's go, jes no more of that grabbin' your cock shit, I get kinda nervous around other cocks, you know, I'm not comfortable about that sexuality."

I rolled my eyes, shoving the basketball into his hands on our way towards the court.

"Nah, I'm jes fucking with ya, Bolton, I'm glad you're attracted to girls. I really am - 'Cause now I don't have to worry 'bout you tryin' to grab me or anything."

Yeah, that's my friend Zeke alright.

END OF CHAPTER

Oh, gosh! Ha, sorry I loved writing this chapter. It was a lot of fun. I'm sorry Chad's being such a drama queen. He'll get over it. Just right now, he's kind of mad. Some guys do get very angry about that kinda stuff. And yeah, Troy's getting pretty . . . :P oh, it's fun, don't lie. I was amused. I highly suggest you look up pictures from a vacation Zac and Vanessa casually went on like two years ago. There's a few of Zac shirtless and one he's literally grasping himself. It makes me laugh every time. Zeke's not gonna be an asshole, he's cool. But yeah, this was long, and I hope you liked the end. And the dirty Troy thoughts :P or, well, reactions. Eh, I'm sure he'll get more creative. :P "Whitney, shut up, you're annoying, we don't care about you and your little dirty thoughts ." Hopefully that's not the case. PS; Sorry there wasn't any Gabriella/Troy action this chapter . . . next chapter . . . oh baby. Review! :)